Sybil Disobedience (4 page)

He returned the flogger to the table without taking a single stroke. Before he could rethink things or convince himself to wait until later, he left the room. Passing the surprised secretary, he headed for Syb’s workshop. They needed to talk, and he needed to hear her cries echoing off the cavernous workshop’s walls as he bent her over the desk. He’d thought of little else since he’d witnessed Peter pushing her down over that surface.

Worked up over the idea, he rushed into the costume shop, only to find it dark with only dim security lighting casting shadows over her domain.

“Syb,” he called, dread setting in his gut. The only time she’d ever closed up like this during the day was when she’d snuck away to have rendezvous with him. They’d had a private spot in the backroom where they’d fucked—sometimes daily on his breaks and between her clients.

Surely, she wasn’t back there.

When she didn’t answer, he stalked through the front room and threw open the door to the back. Utter silence and darkness greeted him. She wasn’t here.

Strange.

He pulled the small radio from his belt and called up to the reception desk. “Marcy, did Sybil sign out early?”

“Yeah, about a half hour ago. And I see that Peter McBride guy walking across the lot. She must not have called him—well, and he’s about two hours early. She probably thought she’d call from home.”

“No problem,” Kellon replied.
No problem at all
, he thought with a dark smile. “I’ll be right up to deal with him.”

Kellon had had enough. The games ended now.

Chapter Three

“Peter,” Kellon greeted Sybil’s cohort in deception. Despite his serious tone, he noticed mirth still danced in the other man’s eyes.

Peter grinned. “I know you’re the ex. Kellon, right? But we’ve never had the pleasure.” He stuck out his hand. “Peter McBride.”

Kellon gave a nod, his expression conveying his knowledge. “Kellon Marecek. Step outside with me?”

“All right,” Peter replied affably. His blatant gaze ran over Kellon’s muscular upper body. His eyebrow rose. “You’re not going to pummel me or anything? I have a conference next week, and while a black eye would be an interesting conversation note, it’s not my style.”

Kellon shook his head. “Just to talk.”

Unless, you don’t cooperate,
he amended silently.

“Right.” The other man headed outside. Once they were on the covered pavement to the side of the outer doors, he turned to Kellon. “You want to discuss Sybbie?”

“Keep away from her.”

“No can do, my man.” He ran his hands over his close-fitting pants and the leather vest cut in such a way as to display his bulging pecs. “Who do you think makes my clothes?”

“Comic-con Geeks R Us?”

“Guess again.”

But Kellon didn’t have to do that. Syb’s skills were obvious. “There’s a Target down the road and a Hot Topic at the mall. I’m sure they can hook you up. Stay away from my woman. And yes, before you ask, I know all about you. You might be a Dom, but you’re not
her
Dom.”

“I had a feeling you’d check up on me. I checked up on you, too. Look, take my advice for what it’s worth. I’ve known her since we were toddlers, and because of that I’ll be around, and I hope I’ll see you in her life. She cares about you like I’ve never seen her care about anyone. Give her what she needs, and never let her go.”

* * * *

Pounding on the front door of Syb’s apartment startled her from the malaise she’d fallen into since getting home. Since she wasn’t really ill, she’d decided to do some work, but she’d been sitting at her sewing machine and staring at the fabric instead of actually sewing for the past half hour. This interruption was welcome.

Rising, she padded to the door on bare feet. Whoever it was had better not care that she wore worn jeans with holes on one thigh and just below one of her butt cheeks. The other side was threadbare and in danger of ripping soon. She’d pulled a snug T-shirt over her loose breasts, and a couple inches of her stomach were bare, showing off her pierced navel. Away from
The Dungeon
, it was her time. Since she was home alone for the weekend, she wore the belly button ring Kellon had given her for her birthday last year.

She suspected it might be Pete at the door. She’d left him a voicemail but hadn’t heard back from him. He’d promised to come over for pizza and wine and let her pour out her heart again before he left for California in the morning.

Without checking, she pulled open the door and immediately bit back a frustrated groan. Not Peter but Kellon. Great. Not only would he likely piss her off some more, but she’d just earned herself a lecture on security and safety.

His lips pressed together, and he let out a breath through his nose.

“I checked the peephole,” she lied before he could start in on her. Though he had no say in her actions, she hoped to sidetrack the coming diatribe. Sometimes men were so predictable, especially if they were in security or were cops. Judging from his clothes, he’d come straight from work and was probably in full protection mode.

“No, you didn’t,” he countered. “Too bad for you. Time to face the consequences.”

Swiftly, he scooped her up onto his shoulder and headed down the hallway. Her door swooshed shut, immediately locking. Her eyes closed as she sighed. It would be a pain in the ass to get back inside once she freed herself from this galoot. “Kellon, let me down!” she demanded, smacking his back. “You can’t do this. You have no right—”

“The hell I don’t,” he growled. “This farce is over. You belong with me.”

“I do
not
! We’re not compatible. The contract is broken. I have a new Master—”

“Silence!”

Syb gasped as Kellon’s hand clapped down on her ass, the smack sending a faint burn through her. She wanted more—on her naked skin. She’d do whatever he wanted if only he’d do it again.

“Put me down,” she insisted then bit her lip as she chose her next words. “Peter will—”

Another smack on her ass.

It resounded through the stairwell as he headed downstairs. So did her groan of pleasure and her excited breathing. There was no way he could miss her reaction.

“Peter’s gay,” Kellon replied. “Don’t feed me that line of bull. You had to know I’d check up on him.”

“He’s bisexual. I’m not lying,” she protested when he spanked her again, though why she complained she couldn’t really say. He could keep smacking his hand on her ass for the next hour and she wouldn’t be unhappy.
Please God, let this be real. Don’t let me be dreaming.

If he was willing to take this step, then she was willing to see where things went. Still, it seemed too good to be true. He’d always so strenuously objected…

“Kellon, what’s—”

And yet another clap of his palm. Deep arousal began to twist in her womb while her cream flowed into her pussy.

Before this went further, she had to confess. Obviously, her plan had failed, even if it seemed a successful failure. She wanted him to know the truth, even if it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. “About Peter—”

“I know about Peter,” he replied, gifting her with another blow in the same spot.  “Sources say he’s gay though you claim he’s bisexual. Did you sleep with him?”

“No.” It would be a deal breaker if she had—which she truly hadn’t. Even if Peter had offered, she wouldn’t have been able to go to his bed. He wasn’t what she wanted. “He’s practically my brother.”

Kellon didn’t reply, but his hand smoothed up her thigh. His fingertips slipped into the hole in the fabric on her thigh and pushed upward to her ass. The old denim hissed as it ripped around his exploration.

“Yes,” she moaned as his fingernails drew a line down the exposed cheek. What had gotten into him? Whatever it was, she didn’t want him to stop. He caressed and scratched her all the way to his car. She jumped when his thumb dipped down to press her between her buttocks, and that earned her another thump on the rear.

“Stop squirming,” he demanded. “I am the one controlling this. Stop trying to direct me. Understand?”

“Yes, Sir,” she answered, conceding to his power. Her insides quivered at this turning point. He might never pull her over his knees and spank her, but at least, he was trying. He was fighting for their relationship.

She didn’t argue or question him when he put her in the passenger side of his black Lexus. Automatically, she sank back into the seat and fastened the belt. She didn’t ask where they were going. Kellon was in charge. Despite everything, she trusted him.

He circled the vehicle and nodded when he saw she’d already secured the restraint. The car purred to life, and soon, they were speeding down the highway, one of Kellon’s hands firmly clamped around her thigh as if he expected her to jump from the car. She knew that wasn’t it. He liked to touch her, and she’d denied him that since she’d broken things off three months ago.

“I moved into the new house a couple weeks after closing,” he said after a few minutes.

An unexpected spout of pain burst in her chest. They’d picked out the place together. He’d been about to close on it when she’d ended their relationship. It had seemed a travesty to take that step toward happily ever after when she wasn’t happy at all.

“How is it?” she asked.

“Empty.”

Oh God…

She wanted to say “I’m sorry” but knew that would be misconstrued. She wasn’t sorry for doing what she believed to be the right thing, even if it hurt them, but she regretted all the pain.

“I’ve only set up a few things,” he said, “but everything’s unpacked. One apartment just wasn’t enough to fill up that big old house.”

No, they’d been counting on her things going into the Victorian, too. They’d intended to buy anything else together.

The bright yellow house with white trim seemed to loom ominously in the distance as they approached down the long, tree-canopied driveway. In the middle of nowhere, Kellon’s home was surrounded by an enormous yard and bordered by a cornfield to one side, a field to the other and a small burbling brook to rear. In the distance, on the far side of the water, grew an apple orchard. The nearest neighbor, who owned the farmland, was a half-mile away. The landscape and the proximity to other people had been two of the major selling points. They both enjoyed nature, and neither wanted anyone living just across the yard, checking out their alternate lifestyle.

Honestly, she’d thought Kellon would stop the purchase when she’d left him. Apparently, he’d still been set on the two-storey house with its finished attic, annexed kitchen and the tower where they’d once planned her sewing room. She’d loved it, too. It was really too big for two people, but they’d wanted lots of kids and space to raise them. Since it had needed restoring in a manner that was true to its era, it’d been on the market for awhile and they’d—well, Kellon—had gotten a steal.

She gnawed on her lip as he pulled up to the wide steps leading to the porch. This was supposed to be her home, but now, she felt a bit like an intruder. It would be painful to see what she’d given away.

“Kellon, this is a bad idea,” she ventured, unsure she could face what lay beyond the front door.

“I don’t think so.” His fingers gently grasped her chin, turning her eyes to him. He dropped a kiss on her mouth. “And I’m in charge. Meet me at the door; I have to get a few things from the trunk.”

Sad girl walking,
she thought as she trudged up to the door. This was going to be painful—and not in a sexually good way.

Before she could dwell on it, Kellon bounded up the steps with a black duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

“Wait here,” he said as he unlocked the door, but to her surprise, he didn’t actually enter the house. He just leaned inside and dropped the bag next to the door. Turning to her, he grabbed her around the waist and lifted her back over his shoulder.

Shadows surrounded them as he stepped into the entry hall.

“You don’t have to lug me,” she protested. “I’d walk—”

His hand smacked onto her rear, silencing her. She couldn’t help her grin, but then he couldn’t see it since she was upside down and facing his back so there was no need to hide her pleasure.

“Maybe I wanted to carry you over the threshold,” he replied.

That rang with something she didn’t want to explore, not until she felt as if their relationship stood on more solid ground.

Without elaborating, he headed through the entry, past the dining room and library, and into the hallway. Moving past the wide stairs, he walked into the parlor they’d intended for a living room. He set her on her feet in front of the fireplace and raised an eyebrow at her. “No smartass remark?”

She shook her head as she placed her feet shoulder-width apart and crossed her wrists over her ass just as he required of his submissive. This all confused her, but she’d missed him and wanted him for so long that she would go with whatever he wanted right now. “No, Sir.”

“Good.” Locking his arms over his chest, he stepped back and surveyed her. She stood perfectly still for inspection as he walked around her. She knew she looked a bit raggedy, but she hadn’t been expecting to see anyone besides Peter tonight, least of all Kellon.

His finger trailed the exposed skin on the back of her thigh, and she lurched. Her fingers curled into fists as she tightened her stance and fought to remain still. If they were going to give this a go today, she’d do her best to obey him. They hadn’t discussed anything, but she knew without the words that Kellon wanted her in his bed tonight.

“Jumpy,” he commented.

She closed her eyes for a moment and bit back a sigh as he stated the obvious. “No one’s touched me…in awhile.”

“Hmm…” His fingers curled upward to skim the underside of her rear where the cheek met leg. “Not even
Master
Peter?”

Her eyes narrowed. He was playing with her and trying to provoke an irritated response. Or maybe… Well, maybe he just wanted proof she was still his. “No,” she replied evenly.

“No one since me?” he pushed.